2000 Alero Security Light On, Car Won't Start

My sister in law, a poor college student, just bought a used 2000 Alero from a local car dealer. The cruise control wouldn't work, so they replaced it for her. Immediately after getting it back, she has a problem where the security light doesn't go off when she tries to start the car. I'm pretty sure it's the passlock system, because all she has to do is leave the key in the ON position for 10 minutes, and then the security lights goes off and she can start the car. This is very annoying as she has to wait 10 minutes everytime she wants to use her car. Could the mechanics who put in a new cruise control have screwed up something with the ignition that would mess up the passlock system? I need some information before I go accusing the dealership. Thanks! T.J.

Welcome to AF.

It is possible but maybe unlikely. However, if the problem was not there before the multifunction switch was replaced then you should address the issue to the dealership. Won't hurt. A scan of body/chassis control may reveal a stored DTC related to Passlock which is causing the problem. It may just require a reset. Normally the problem is caused by a flaky igniition switch cylinder/tumber since that is the Passlock transponder which fees the signal to the body control module (BCM) and anti-theft system.

I had alot of trubble with this. bcm,or a few other things. I had way to meny problems with this one. Its salved for now.

When my car was under warranty the dealer replaced the BCM...this solved the problem for...well...until the car was out of warranty. Now the problem has returned and I'm gonna have to foot the bill. I'm pretty sure the problem was never caused by the BCM in the first place, but it was the cheaper of the two fixes.

- Jeremy